Recently, Echo Medical, a medical device company in the field of neurointervention, announced the completion of a B+ round of financing of hundreds of millions of yuan, led by Sequoia Capital China Fund, and the original investor Huagai Capital and the new investment institution Taikang Insurance Group jointly participated, which is also the first time that insurance funds have entered the field of neural intervention. The proceeds of financing are mainly used for the company's comprehensive promotion of the layout of the entire product line of stroke.
This financing is only half a year after the last round of B financing of Echo Medical, Sequoia Capital China Fund and Huagai Capital have participated for two consecutive times, as a star investment institution in the field of medical investment, what are the core advantages of Echo Medical that attract the continuous investment recognition of capital? In addition, the investors behind Echo Medical also include well-known investors such as Biboyuan Capital and Proxima Centauri Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Echo Medical is a medical device company that focuses on the neurointerventional device track and has developed a full product line layout around the track, involving hemorrhagic stroke treatment products, ischemic stroke treatment products, and pathway auxiliary products.
For obtaining this round of financing, the founder of Echo Medical responded: "The smooth development of the company needs all-round support from industry experts and capital market partners. Since its inception, Eco Healthcare has been committed to providing neurologists with the safest and most effective interventional surgical instruments. Through some representative first products, we were fortunate to be affirmed by clinicians, and also laid a good foundation for the next improvement of the product line.
China's neurointerventional market first urgently needs domestic manufacturers to provide international-level quality products to meet market supply, and then challenges the global technological frontier in some unknown areas based on rapid clinical feedback. Only 'Copy to China' can not meet the market's expectations for domestic manufacturers, we will continue to be based on the discovery of global clinical experts, combined with our Chinese-American dual-drive structure, to bring patients with substantial clinical value of the product." Thank you again to new and old investors for trusting us. ”
Comprehensive layout of the entire product line of stroke, core blood flow guidance device to complete the clinical
China is one of the markets with the largest demand for stroke care. 7% of the total chinese population has intracranial aneurysms, and because of their risk of rupture and severe sequelae, intracranial aneurysms make the treatment of such diseases an unquestionable medical necessity. In 2016, there were 13.7 million new stroke patients worldwide, of which 5 million were in China, which means that nearly 4 out of every 10 stroke patients in the world are from China. In terms of mortality, about 5.5 million people die from stroke every year, and 1.79 million in China, accounting for more than 1/3.
Behind such a huge number of cases is a huge market space for stroke interventional devices, from embolic spring coils to blood flow guidance devices, thrombosts to suction catheters, microcatheters to intermediate catheters, most of the market share of China's huge neurointerventional city has been occupied by foreign-funded enterprises such as Medtronic, Stryker, Telmo, Johnson & Johnson, etc., but in recent years, domestic brands are also rising, and gradually emerging emerging forces in the local neurointervention industry, medical device companies represented by Echo Medical, It also completed the comprehensive layout of the neural intervention track.
Echo Medical's products include three segments: hemorrhagic, ischemic and pathway products, which bring a full set of solutions for the treatment of various cerebrovascular diseases in clinical departments, and at the same time bring profit pillar products that resist homogenization competition and policy regulation cycles for the company in the next 5 years.
Blood flow guidance devices have been widely trusted by clinicians in recent years, and their use in domestic clinics is growing rapidly. Industry experts predict that 50-70% of interventional surgery for intracranial aneurysms will be treated with blood flow directing devices in the next 5 years.
The fastest-moving blood flow directing device in the company's pipeline has completed clinical trials. Blood flow directing device implantation is a new surgical method of interventional treatment of aneurysms, which is the latest generation of technology for the treatment of aneurysms in the world. After the implantation of the blood flow guidance device, it can change the hemodynamics of the tumor-carrying artery, direct the blood flow that originally flowed into the aneurysm cavity into the direction of the blood flow, reduce the impact of blood flow on the aneurysm wall, reduce the risk of rupture, and avoid the high recurrence rate and mass effect caused by simple spring coil embolism.
Acute intracranial ischemic stroke is another important area of focus in neurointerventional therapy. The mechanical embolic procedure used in conjunction with the intracranial thrombotic suction catheter has gradually become a powerful tool for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction through clinical studies in multiple cohorts in recent years. The guidelines for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction in 2015 were recommended as the highest level of peg stents in the United States and China. The development and production of intracranial thrombotic suction catheters is more difficult than that of intracranial thrombotic stents, and the anti-folding performance, in-tube coating, and passability of its research and development and production have extremely high requirements.
Together, the company's self-developed intracranial thrombotic stent and intracranial thrombotic suction catheter will form a key part of the company's mechanical thrombotic system, transforming the field of acute ischemic stroke treatment.
At the same time, Echo Medical cooperates with the blood flow guidance device, and the intermediate catheters and microcatheters required for intracranial mechanical embolism have overcome the technical limitations of imported products, with higher handling and safety, and are compatible with all market-on-sale products, becoming a new generation of neurointerventional surgery infrastructure products.
Sequoia, Huagai, taikang have entered the market to invest
Regarding the investment in Eco Medical, Shen Nanpeng, global managing partner of sequoia Capital, the lead investor, said: "Neuroscience is another highland in the field of life and health, and the exploration and attempt of brain-related disease treatment is an important direction that Sequoia Capital China Fund continues to pay attention to and support. We were pleasantly surprised by EchoMeditech's full product line layout in the field of neurointerventional, especially the 'global new' products protected by global patents developed for hemorrhagic brain diseases. As the leading investor in the company's multiple rounds of financing, we expect that with the support of many shareholders such as Sequoia China, the company can promote the progress of the company's products faster and benefit more patients with cerebrovascular diseases at home and abroad." ”
Xu Xiaolin, chairman and founder of Huagai Capital, said: "We are very optimistic about the future development of the field of neurointervencation in China, and Eco Medical, as a leading enterprise in China, has strong competitiveness in product research and development, marketing network and medical resources. The company's first neurointerventional product, the Blood Flow Directing Device, has excellent performance and has won unanimous praise from clinicians, which is expected to break the monopoly position of international medical devices. Huagai Capital is highly optimistic about the company's complete team allocation and industry accumulation, and will help the company become a leader in the field of neural intervention in the future and continue to create value for society.
Duan Guosheng, Executive Vice President and CEO of Taikang Insurance Group and CEO of Taikang Asset Management, said: "As a long-term and stable value investor, Taikang Insurance Group has been committed to building a health ecosystem in the era of longevity. Stroke has a high incidence and high fatality rate in China, which is a type of disease that seriously affects the health of Chinese residents. Focusing on the field of stroke diseases, Eco Medical has created a full-category product system with great clinical value by virtue of its world-leading technical capabilities. Investing in Echo is an important layout of Taikang in the field of neurointerventional innovative medical devices, and it is hoped that this financing can support the Echo medical team to further increase product research and development efforts and benefit stroke patients as soon as possible. ”
(Author: Shen Junhan)
(Responsible editor: Li Jianhua Intern: Guo Jinwen)
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